15 names of the @ (at-symbol) in different languages

Contrary to what some people think, the @ symbol isn’t a product of the digital age. And it certainly wasn’t invented by Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email! The @ sign is actually very old. Tomlinson, however, made it popular by including it in the format of the email address.

The emergence of the symbol in language isn’t very clear and has been lost in time. After being incorporated in the email address and, thus, becoming popular, interest in finding the origins have revealed that the symbol has been in use for hundreds of years. Come to think of it, Ray Tomlinson actually saved the @ sign from extinction!

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For centuries, businessmen in English speaking countries have employed the symbol to indicate “cost per unit”, as in “50 apples @ $10”, and that’s why it’s called “at”. But for other languages, the symbol was foreign and had to be assimilated because of its modern day usage in the email address. And people around the world have come up with interesting names for it.

Most names are based on the shape of the symbol – it looks like alphabet a’s tail has rolled up on itself, right? And obviously, we humans will bring in animal references. Here are some weird, creative and downright funny names of the “at” symbol from popular languages around the world.